Strong’s H1314 · Hebrew

בֶּשֶׂם
besem
beh'-sem

Definition

fragrance; by implication, spicery; also the balsam plant

Etymology

or בֹּשֶׂם; from the same as H1313 (בָּשָׂם);

Where the KJV renders it

  • smell
  • spice
  • sweet (odour)

Every distinct English word the King James Version uses to translate this Hebrew term. The variety shows what readers in English receive across many different surface words — the same underlying word, scattered across the English Bible under different names.

What the first audience heard

A deep-dive treatment of this word is in the works. The featured chapter above carries the long form of what this word meant to its first audience.